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The
2003 group at Denver International Airport with Dot Cada from
the Northern Colorado Friendship Force.
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Kay Saelens lent us
some square dancing outfits
and John Dudley and others
brought "western attire"
for the Russians to wear during
our farewell party at the ranch.
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The third Library of
Congress Open World forum was again hosted by the Northern
Colorado Friendship Force, Sept 25 - Oct 2.
This time most of the participants were from Saratov. The
group is pictured below against the Denver skyline.
Click here
to view the schedule of activities.
Uses Acrobat Reader for viewing.
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Left
to Right: Standing -- Marat (a facilitator),
Natalya, Vera, Igor S, Igor B, Irina and Anna.
Keeling: and Mikhail and Yelena. This picture was
taken on the west side of the
Denver
Museum
with downtown
Denver
in the background.
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Marat
and Natalya enjoy a private lesson from Blair Muhlenstein on how
to sculpt an elephant.
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Jeff
and Dot host the part of the group on a hike up the
"Devil's backbone trail" west of
Loveland.
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After a week's time in Colorado --
this is how our Western Russian group looks? (Dot, Kathy,
and Helen are hiding behind the group that also includes Leonid,
a Russian translator, from New York.
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In 2005 The Friendship Force of
Northern Colorado hosted a
fourth Library of
Congress Open World forum for the Russians. Many Northern Colorado Business people
opened up their busy schedules to acquaint our delegates with
how they operate their business and to interact with our Open
World guests.
Click here
to view the schedule of activities.
Uses Acrobat Reader for viewing.
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It was
another very successful forum.
Everyone worked hard,
learned a lot and enjoyed visiting various local sites during
their limited amount of free time.
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In 2006
a fifth Library of Congress Open World forum for the Russians
was hosted by the Friendship Force of Northern Coloarado.
This year's group was composed entirely of women leaders.
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Participating
in the forum were eight young business women from Saratov,
Russia ranging in age from 22 to 44 (most were in their
twenties). Our two facilitators came from the towns of Pskov
and Ryazan, Russia. Olga Duvall of Fort Collins and Leonid
Severnyak from Maryland were our official translators for the
entire program.
This year, we had two and a half days of "fun with the
families," due to the Labor Day Holiday, before the actual
program commenced. Then, on Tuesday, the program kicked into
high gear as the delegates were still required to have 32 hours
of exposure to various lines of American businesses.
Saturday evening their visit ended with a "Thanksgiving
Dinner" (at the Cada's). This event was suggested by a prior
year's host, Jeffrey Kruger, who has since married a Russian
woman, as he was extremely impressed with this American
tradition. In fact, Jeff donated three turkeys for the
occasion. Host families each brought their favorite
Thanksgiving dish which contributed to a real feast. Before
rushing home to pack for a 6:00 a.m. departure, the group square
and line danced to the calling of Kirby Hansen of Loveland. |
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Click here
to view the schedule of activities.
Uses Acrobat Reader for viewing. |
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In
2009 the sixth Library of Congress Open World forum for the
Russians was hosted by The Friendship Force of Northern
Colorado.
Eleven delegates, all from Saratov, participated.
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These pictures were taken at
the farewell dinner on the 7th of November 2009. |
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For
information about the forum
click here
to read an article from the Coloradoan. |
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Sergio Plaza,
instructor of a 4 hour program for the group, Dot Cada, program
director, and a Russian
translator address the group. |
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The dinner was culminated with the
delivery of "certificates of achievement." During this
time each participant told the audience about their career in
Russia and
something about their impressions of the US from this trip.
A common response
was that "they were surprised by how involved people here are in
their community life."
All of the programs were administered by "top-notch"
professionals and the Russian response was the best we have ever
had.
The program involved the following organizations:
Gordon Thibedeau of United Way; Professors, Gillian Browser and
Dr. Jack Brouillette of Colorado State University; John Manago
of the Loveland Police Department; Sandi Moilanen, of the Trade
& Investment office in Denver; Jane Howell of Internal Affairs
of the Colorado Office of Internal Affairs; Sergio Plaza and the
members of the Loveland Chamber of Commerce; Stacy Johnson of
the Loveland Economic Development group; Troy and Chad McWhinney;
Ken Amundeson and Jeff Stahla of the Reporter Herald; Terry
Anderson of the Loveland City Clerk's office; Scott Doyle,
Larimer County Clerk; Lisa Malmquist and Gordon McKinney of
Lightsource; and then all the individuals who agreed to meet
with the candidates more-or-less individually for one-on-one
shadowing: The Beauty School on South College Avenue; Europa
Salon, downtown Ft. Collins; Randy Williams & Roger Clark,
Loveland attorneys; Fred Anderson, past Colorado Senator;
Adaptive Resources at the Chilson Center; Hearts & Horses;
Loveland Disabled Resource group; Kim, a publisher and Sarah
from Public Relations of the Coloradoan; The city of Ft. Collins
recycle department; and Gallegos pickup service.
If we've
missed anyone, we're sorry. There were a ton of people who made
this program possible!!!
A huge THANK YOU for the
hours and hours that Dot Cada put in to make this an
overwhelming success. In fact, she's headed to Saratov, the
town of all of this year's candidates, this coming week to begin
the "follow-up." Thank you also to all of
her tireless helpers -- Helen Crichfield and Kathy Weinmeister
who have served diligently at her side for everyone one of
the 6 forums and all of the Northern Colorado Friendship Force
members who have hosted and assisted with many of the activities
throughout the programs.
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Click here to view
a the schedule of activities.
Click here
for a description of the Shadowing Experience.
Uses Acrobat Reader for viewing. |
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Lithuanian
Delegation
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In 2004 another Library of
Congress Open World forum was held in Ft. Collins, Sept 25 - Oct 2.
This forum was for young Lithuanians.
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One of the
tables at the welcome dinner.
(Click
here to view an itinerary for the week.)
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The group
of young Lithuanian leaders and their FFNC hosts.
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OPEN WORLD LEADERSHIP CENTER
AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Russia
Introduction
The Open
World Program was established to enable emerging Russian leaders
to gain firsthand exposure to the American system of democracy
through visits to local governments and communities in the
United States. The principles of accountability, transparency,
and citizen involvement in government are among the concepts
emphasized.
Open World
grew out of the successful Russian Leadership Program (RLP)
pilot projects
administered
by the Library of Congress in 1999–2001. The program is now
implemented by the Open World Leadership Center (the Center), an
independent entity housed in the U.S. legislative branch.
The success of the Open World Program led Congress in 2003 to
include cultural leaders in Russia and to extend eligibility to
the 11 other Freedom Support Act countries and the Baltic
republics (Public Law 108-7). The Center’s Board of Trustees
approved pilot programs in Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Lithuania.
The Center
will provide grants for hosting delegations to approved
organizations that support Open World’s objectives. The
three open world Russia programs are:
-
The
Russia Civic Hosting Program
-
The
Russia Parliamentary Hosting Program
-
The
Russia Cultural Leaders Program
( The above
are excerpted
from the Open World website: http://www.openworld.gov)
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